Evidence map›Paper›PMID 41906218›Full record

ReviewThe British journal of psychiatry : the journal of mental science2026

Barriers and facilitators to accessing addiction treatment services for sexual minority (LGBQ+) people: systematic review.

Miriam Hillyard, Beatrice Cockbain, Colin Drummond, Katharine Rimes, Emmert Roberts

Abstract readReview
In one paragraph

Review in The British journal of psychiatry : the journal of mental science, 2026. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 2 papers.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
2citing papers in PubMed
–field-weighted citation impact
1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.

The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.

2 · The registry

The trial behind it

Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.

Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

2 citing papers in PubMed.

  1. Article
  2. Article
4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

5 authors.

Miriam HillyardNational Addiction Centre, https://ror.org/0220mzb33Institute for Psychiatry, Psychology and Neuroscience, King's College London, UK.ORCID https://orcid.org/0000-0003-2171-5227
Beatrice CockbainDepartment of Genitourinary Medicine and HIV, Chelsea and Westminster NHS Foundation Trust, London, UK.
Colin DrummondNational Addiction Centre, https://ror.org/0220mzb33Institute for Psychiatry, Psychology and Neuroscience, King's College London, UK.
Katharine RimesSchool of Psychology, University of Plymouth, UK.
Emmert RobertsNational Addiction Centre, https://ror.org/0220mzb33Institute for Psychiatry, Psychology and Neuroscience, King's College London, UK.ORCID https://orcid.org/0000-0002-4152-5570

Funding

No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

backgroundSexual minority (lesbian, gay, bisexual, queer and other non-heterosexual) people experience significant disparities in addiction problems compared with heterosexual people.

aimsWe aimed to answer the question, what are the barriers and facilitators to accessing drug/alcohol addiction treatment services for sexual minority adults?'.

methodA systematic review was conducted by searching Medline, PsycINFO, CINAHL, Web of Science, and Sociological Abstracts for any English-language primary research article (qualitative, quantitative or mixed methods) relevant to the study aims, from inception up to 18 April 2025. Quality of included studies was assessed using the Mixed-Methods Appraisal Tool (MMAT-2018). Barriers and facilitators were categorised into 'service-related' and 'patient-related' dimensions of accessibility, and synthesised narratively.

resultsWe screened 3282 abstracts, with full-text review of 238 articles; 62 studies met the inclusion criteria. Common service-related barriers included explicit harassment, discrimination, violence or abuse toward sexual minority people in services and lack of expertise or 'culturally competent' provision for their specific addiction problems. Facilitators included affirming, non-judgemental staff attitudes and sexual minority-specific treatment or outreach services. Patient-related barriers included ambivalence around drug/alcohol use and a fear of stigma (e.g. around sexualised drug use). Facilitators included signposting to services via community networks or peer advocates, and allowing patients to set their own treatment goals.

conclusionsAlthough barriers and facilitators vary across global contexts and time periods, both qualitative and quantitative research highlighted similar key issues. Implementing practical changes to address these may improve sexual minority people's access to addiction services, reducing the burden of addiction-related health inequity for this community.

Indexed as

addictionalcohol disordersStigma and discriminationsubstance use disorderssystematic review

Identifiers

PMID41906218
PMCPMC7619179

What OpenQuestion holds

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LicenceCC BY
Read underepoch 390

Registered trials

None linked

Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.